Carmody appointed NZ arts festival’s writers week program manager
Kathryn Carmody has been appointed as program manager of the 2014 New Zealand International Arts Festival Writers and Readers Week. Carmody is a publicist and former bookseller at Capital Books...
2013 Adelaide Festival program launched
The program for the 2013 Adelaide Festival, to be held between 1 and 17 March 2013, has been launched. Next year’s Adelaide Writers’ Week will be held between 2 and...
Twyford-Moore appointed EWF director
The Emerging Writers’ Festival (EWF) has announced that Sam Twyford-Moore will take over the role of festival director from Lisa Dempster, who announced in April that she would be stepping...
McDonald, Ahmad receive OzCo community arts awards
Writers Meme McDonald and Mohammed Ahmad have received awards from the Australia Council for the Arts for their contributions to community arts and cultural development. McDonald was presented with the...
Rodda resigns as Auckland writers festival GM
Anne Rodda has resigned from her position as general manager of the Auckland Writers and Readers Festival, reports Booksellers New Zealand. Rodda, who has worked for the festival since 2008,...
BWF kicks off
The Brisbane Writers Festival (BWF) kicks off today, following the presentation of the Queensland Literary Awards last night. The festival runs from 5 to 9 September and includes and ‘all...
BWF program released
The program for this year’s Brisbane Writers Festival has been announced. The festival, which runs from 5 to 9 September, will be the last for current director Jane O’Hara,...
MWF announces first events for 2012 festival
The Melbourne Writers Festival (MWF) has announced initial details of its adult program for the 2012 festival. British actor, director and author of several biographies Simon Callow will give the...
Brown to appear as keynote speaker at BBWF
The Byron Bay Writers Festival has confirmed Greens Senator Bob Brown will be a keynote speaker at this year’s event. Brown, who recently stepped down from his role as Greens...
Rolley to leave SWF
The Sydney Writers’ Festival (SWF) has announced that current director Chip Rolley will leave the festival in August to take up the role of editor of the ABC’s The Drum....
Auckland writers festival reports record ticket, bookshop sales for 2012
The Auckland Writers & Reader’s Festival has reported record ticket sales for its 2012 festival, which ran from 9-13 May. More than 24,000 tickets were sold for the five-day event,...
SMH Best Young Australian Novelists announced
The winners of the 2012 Sydney Morning Herald Best Young Australian Novelists were announced at the Sydney Writers' Festival (SWF) on 20 May. The winners are: Melanie Joosten (Berlin Syndrome,...
BBWF announces international authors
The Byron Bay Writers' Festival has announced international guests Katherine Boo and Mohammed Hanif will be part of the 2012 program. Boo is a staff writer for the New Yorker...
Newly located Darwin Wordstorm ‘a great success’
This year’s Wordstorm festival, held in Darwin from 10 to 13 May, ‘seems to have been a great success’, according to director Hamish McDonald. McDonald told Bookseller+Publisher that the majority of...
‘Northern Voyagers’ wins NT Chief Minister’s Book of the Year award
The winners of this year’s Territory Read awards were announced on 10 May during the Darwin Wordstorm writers festival. The winner of this year’s $5000 Northern Territory Chief Minister’s Book...
Michael Hastings withdraws from SWF, Auckland writers festival
US author and journalist Michael Hastings has withdrawn from his sessions at the Auckland Writers & Readers Festival and the Sydney Writers’ Festival (SWF). The author of The Operators: The...
Attendance up but book sales down at Perth Writers Festival
S J Finch writes: This year's Perth Writers Festival was a phenomenal success, attracting an estimated crowd of around 30, 000 people, Danielle Benda told the Weekly Book Newsletter. 'There...
Parsons appointed BBWF director
Jonathan Parsons has been appointed the new director of the Byron Bay Writers Festival. Parsons ‘brings to this position over twenty years experience working in the arts and cultural scenes,...
In Brief
Screen Australia funding for book adaptationsScreen Australia has approved funding for the development of a number of feature films based on Australian books in its latest funding round. Screen Australia...
Ubud writers festival: 20% audience growth
Organisers report that audience figures grew by 20% at the 2011 ANZ Ubud Writers & Readers Festival in Bali, Indonesia, compared to the 2010 festival. Festival director Janet DeNeefe told the...